Seb's basketball

Sebastian has had a great season of basketball - he's on a YMCA team with a number of his school friends - the boys have all improved greatly over the season and have had a great time. (That being said, they still travel, double dribble, go out-of-bounds, fail to rebound, pass to no-one or to the other team, etc...) He's only got one game remaining in the season, so I took some photos on Saturday.

baby chicks and cherry blossoms

We spent Sunday eating, wandering, playing, and talking with the Hoangs. It was a delightful and uneventful Portland day.

We first stopped by their house to check out their chickens: they are the proud owners of three baby chicks, currently living in a little indoor coop, but destined for a (soon to be) nicely fenced outdoor space. Fresh eggs! Liesl was thrilled to hold them (Violet, Lily, and Fluffy) and pet them. Sebastian did not want to touch them at all, but was finally convinced to gently stroke the neck of one while I held it. It's so cool to hold a tiny bird and feel its heartbeat.

Next was Taiwanese food at a noodle shop called Wei Wei. The bao, pork chop, and beef noodle soup were decent, but not amazing. We ate outside at a food cart pod and supplemented our take with some borscht and pierogies, which were pretty tasty; and some Laotian food. We love to eat with the Hoangs - we all love to eat, and love to eat everything, so we share plates. We order collaboratively and then all the food goes in the middle of the table and everyone digs in separately and together, serving children, serving ourselves, tasting it all. Anne remarked today that eating out with Steve is like the wine tasting of food - you get little bites of a lot of different things.

We walked and Seb biked over to Sellwood Park, admiring the spring flowers in bloom - camellias, forsythia, daffodils, crocuses cherry and magnolia trees. The kids played at the playground and then ran around the fields getting increasingly muddy.

After a while we packed ourselves back into the cars and headed down to the waterfront to check out Portland's famous double row of Japanese cherry trees. They were in bloom, and beautiful, and the predicted heavy rain finally arrived at 3:30 and chased all the tourists away, so we had them to ourselves.  Of course, we also got wet and cold, and we were (as previously mentioned) increasingly muddy, so we headed home. Steve and Cuong were still plotting our next meal out at that point and had to be dragged away ... they're a dangerous combination.

A good Sunday, and our usual busy week ahead: gymnastics, dance, piano, swimming, climbing, jazz, work, school. At least I feel like I checked in with and communed with the springtime this weekend, and said hello to my favorite flowers.

muddy bike/hike

On Sunday we went for our usual weekly jaunt in Forest Park - the "tire-swing" parking spot this time - down old Springville Rd, along the Wildwood to the Ridge trail, up the Ridge and then back along Firelane 7. It's one of my favorite loops. Sebastian insisted on bringing the old skuut bike, against my objections, and the children had a ball riding it through the mud and down the hills, cackling with glee. To his credit, Seb didn't ask me to carry it even once, and I was happy to admit that I'd been wrong in my skepticism.

Spring is in the air - the camellias are in full bloom, the daffodils are bursting out, the forsythia and cherry trees are starting to show some color, and the new crop of ferns and clovers are unfurling in the woods. Today's rain even smelled like spring - all mossy green earth coming to life. I have been delighted and amazed every February to so viscerally feel the turn of the seasons here. For a girl who has lived in Edmonton - Amherst - Sweden - New York - the Portland spring always comes early, before I expect it, in the most delightful way.

kitchen projects

I have fallen hard for a honey whole wheat sandwich bread made by a local bakery - and by fallen hard, I mean we bought and ate 3 loaves in a week. On researching it further, I discovered that the bakery was using flour made from artisanal strains of wheat grown and ground locally (o, bestill my Oregon foodie heart!). So I promptly got some of the flour (Red Fife bread flour - an heirloom Canadian strain! - and Edison white whole wheat) and turned my attention to baking some loaves.

My trusty kitchen helper - and to make it even better, using my great-grandfather's baking bowl.

 

The finished loaf: oat-wheat-rye bread. The first loaf was very good - delicious flavor and good crumb - the second one I left to slowly rise in the fridge for a few days, and it came out extremely dense. Let's call that one the "German rye" variant - it requires butter and honey.  :)  

 

Since I was on a roll, I also made an end-of-winter gingerbread cake. One more spicy, gingery, dark molasses cake before the yogurt-berry/strawberry-rhubarb/carrot cakes of spring arrive.

On another note, I tried my hand at making yogurt from scratch on Wednesday night. I had been assured that it was not difficult, and then friend Anne double-dog-dared me to improve on her recent foray. My competitive nature roared to life, and this was the result. It was delicious.

And of course, what's homemade yogurt without homemade maple almond pecan granola to go with it?  Is this the moment at which I realize I've jumped the shark on becoming a Portlander? Or does that designation await the purchase of chickens, or a goat, or the launch of my Etsy business?  At any rate, my family approved. Breakfast today was delicious.

Uptown Funk

Just another Friday morning in our house. :)  I blame Steve for this one.


Untitled from B. Avery on Vimeo.


In related news, both kids got new running shoes, having worn holes in their old ones. Liesl requested pink light-up shoes and we found a snazzy pair with brightly colored lights. Seb, in a surprise move, requested pink Nikes. I was astonished, as he's always been set on blue blue blue. Apparently pink is the new favorite color of all the second and third grade boys in his class. I tried to be encouraging of his diversion and yet also honest about the fact that it might be an unusual pick. Plus, I told him he'd be wearing them for a few months and so to make sure he was sure, because if he changed his mind in a week we weren't buying new ones.

He was super happy to get them and wore them to school today. Predictably, everyone in his class thought they were awesome, but he reported sadly that all the other boys at lunch recess teased him about his pink shoes. But: when asked, he reported that he said "Well, I like them and think they're cool, so I don't care what you say." I was proud of his response but still wished there'd been a little less teasing and a little more support.